I'the commonwealth I would by contrariesExecute all things; for no kind of traffic...Would I admit; no name of magistrate;Letters should not be known; riches, poverty,And use of service, none; contract, succession,Bourn, bound of land, tilth, vineyard, none;No use of metal, corn, or wine, or oil;No occupation; all men idle, all,And women too, but innocent and pure.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

In proper English households . . . one writer remembered in the 1630s as a time when, "The child perfectly loathed the sight of hi...s parents, as the slave his Torturer. Gentlemen of 30 or 40 years old, fitt for any employment in the commonwealth, were to stand like great mutes and fools bare headed before their parents; and the Daughters (grown women) were to stand at the Cupboards side during the whole time of the proud mothers visit, unless (as the fashion was) 'twas desired that leave (forsooth) should be given to them to kneele upon cushions brought them by the servingman, after they had done sufficient Penance standing."LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

A submissive spirit might be patient, a strong understanding would supply resolution, but here was something more; here was that e...lasticity of mind, that disposition to be comforted, that power of turning readily from evil to good, and of finding employment which carried her out of herself, which was from Nature alone. It was the choicest gift of heaven.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

A wife is property that one acquires by contract, she is transferable, because possession of her requires title; in fact, woman is..., so to speak, only man's appendage; consequently, slice, cut, clip her, you have all rights to her.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »

The aura of the theocratic death penalty for adultery still clings to America, even outside New England, and multiple divorce, whi...ch looks to the European like serial polygamy, is the moral solution to the problem of the itch. Love comes into it too, of course, but in Europe we tend to see marital love as an eternity which encompasses hate and also indifference: when we promise to love we really mean that we promise to honour a contract. Americans, seeming to take marriage with not enough seriousness, are really taking love and sex with too much.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »